Aaron Foley | MLive.comWilkinson Middle School teacher Bobby Robinson, foreground, and Michigan Education Association - South Oakland Districts Association executive director Calvin Mott address a crowd of Madison School District teachers Monday night. Robinson is the president of the union, which will take a 10-percent wage cut starting Friday.

Teachers in the Madison School District are filing suit today to halt a 10-percent retroactive pay cut after another round of failed negotiations with the Madison Heights-based district's board of education.

Because the wage reductions are applied retroactively for the already-in-progress 2011-12 school year, teachers' paychecks for the remainder of the year will be drastically reduced, many by more than half.

On Friday, board members offered union workers a 10-percent wage reduction from each paycheck for the remainder of the school year, 7-percent wage reductions for the 2012-13 school year and canceling the retroactive wage reduction. The union refused that offer.

School board president Al Morrison told MLive that while the talks weren't contentious, he is hoping for a resolution.

"We finally got some numbers around instead of debating the rights and wrongs," Morrison said. "I'm confident we're going to iron this out."

Madison Heights is served by two school districts: Madison and Lamphere. Teachers in Madison have complained that they are the lowest-paid educators in Oakland County, and have worked without a contract since 2009.

Last week, some students at Madison High School organized a walkout in protest of the wage reductions.